i'm concerned about america. this election is over, but our principles endure. i believe the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to renewed greatness. like so many of you paul and i have left everything on the field. we have given our all to this campaign. i so wish, i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction but the nation chose another leader and so anne and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys are the best. thank you so much. thank you. thanks guys.

>> reporter: you know see on the stage now that mitt romney's wife anne, his five sons, their spouses and 16 of his 18 grandchildren who have been across the street in a hotel watching the returns tonight have all joined him on the stage. now he told us earlier in the day that he had only written one speech when he came into boston on his campaign plane this afternoon and that was a victory speech. obviously he did not give that speech to be the. a very disappointed mitt romney. this is his second run for the white house. and as we told you earlier this evening, his father george

romney, when he was secretary of hud and i worked on capitol hill in the early 70s he made a run for the white house in 1968 when he was governor of michigan. mitt romney always says he wish he could fulfill his father's dream and for him to be elected president. but we've seen tonight obviously that has not happened. mitt romney has made it clear that he will not run for president again as i said this is his second run for the presidency. but he says he will remain in politics. he will be a strong political voice in this country. now some of his supporters here as you see are already beginning to leave. some told me this evening after it was projected that mitt romney had lost that they in their words not mine. said that they expected four more years of the same gridlock in washington. they were of course very, very

disappointed. it remains to be seen whether president obama can gather up the supporters of mitt romney. he said he wants to be helpful to the president. he will pray for the president and that he will be supportive. but it remains to be seen whether half of the country that seemed to have voted for someone else tonight will be able to support president obama. he is now left the stage and as you see behind me, all of these folks are leaving too. this is the situation here in boston, reporting live rita williams, ktvu channel 2 news. from a very quiet and subdued boston, we go to a very lively chicago where president oe -- obama is expected to come out momentarily with his acceptance speech. ken wayne has been following this. we've been waiting for some

time, what are you hearing. >> reporter: i would describe people's reaction to that concession speech we heard from governor romney as respectful. there was no booing in the audience that i was able to pick up on and applauding for points that governor romney had in his speech. what everybody is waiting for is president obama to take to the stage. which sounds like we may be building into any minute now. while we wait for that, why don't we relive that moment when the race was called for president obama. now it was just after we heard iowa, did the excitement started to build. then we heard ohio called for the president and it was minutes later when the word came that barack obama had been reelected and the news filled the ears of people who are not just supporters, these are campaign workers here who are filling this hall. people who went to other states to help campaign for president

obama and helped deliver that victory tonight. we had some sound that we wanted to play from some of those supporters. we will deliver for you later i guess. right now what we're waiting for is for president obama and vice president joe biden to take to the stage. we're having an audio presentation right now. a video playing of his supporters talking about what sounds like their efforts. they made during this campaign during this long campaign. again help deliver that victory tonight in particular in the swing states. a lot of people here are from chicago, campaign workers from chicago who were all -- who spent their time not only placing calls to other states but much like people in california democrats in california will go to nevada. that's what the people here in illinois and chicago in

particular were doing for president obama. they were traveling to swing states. they were driving to wisconsin. and that's how a lot of people got into this room tonight. by agreeing to go to these swing states to help with the ground game there. so these are the people who had the ticket, they earned a ticket into this room. and look here, their reaction now once the word came in. >> fired up, ready to go. >> and i said, this is great. >> he's a great president and i'm very happy. he has my back and i'm sorry for mitt romney but it's obama. we can't lose. >> what do i want for obama. i want the country to be the great country that it is. >> a few weeks ago i was up in wisconsin, we got wisconsin. last few weeks i've been calling wisconsin and ohio, we got both states. >> obama is winning, he's

winning, he's winning. gosh thank you jesus. >> just as you're returning to us live here to chicago. it sound like that video is about to wrap up. this crowd is getting very energized. responding in time to that video that's playing right now. we expect the president to take that stage at any moment. >> and ken yes we've been watching. it was a very short speech from mitt romney. he was very gracious in that speech. obviously not the speech he wanted to make tonight. we're going to see a much different speech from the president. but with the closeness of this race in terms of the popular vote tonight. the challenge now for the president is really to bring this country together. >> reporter: that's true. also to figure out some way to work with congress. i talked to california attorney camela harris and she said that is something that is key in the next four years. she described a congress that was reluctant or refused to work with the president and

that's something that she hopes will change. and so we're, we're trying to keep an eye on the stage here because we expect the president to come out at any moment now. and address the crowd of estimated 10,000 people. many of them as i said before, campaign volunteers who worked for the president most of them from the chicago area. and his adopted hometown. >> ken i was going to is you, you said about 10,000 people it looks huge in there and it's absolutely packed. is this the arena where -- >> reporter: i'm sorry frank, could you repeat that last part. i heard is that the arena. >> it looks packed is this the arena where the chicago bulls play? >> no this is actually a convention center. think mccormick center. a very large convention center. this room is filled with

thousands of people. up to 10,000 people. if you remember in 2008 when president obama was then president-elect accepted the nomination he was at a park near by here. that event drew hundreds of thousands of people. so this is a huge venue but nowhere near the size we saw four years ago. it's my understanding that part of that is due to simply the weather here in chicago today. a little rainy so it's an indoor event. still a very loud place as you can tell. >> and ken as we wait for the president. this has been a long time coming. a lot of people thought tonight would drag on, weigh into the late night hours. but as it turned out we knew early on tonight who the president would be and that it is president obama elected for four more years. >> reporter: it's interesting when you ask people, what are your expectations for tonight. they thought it would be

wrapped up tonight. that this would not be a long drawn out process. of course that's all guess work until it actually happens which is exactly what it did tonight. >> you can see the crowd is going wild. it's a complete contrast to what we saw a couple of moments ago in boston where it was incredibly subdued. mitt romney came out, gave a very short concession speech and left and pretty much right after that the crowd started leaving. contrast that here to chicago. where it's almost like a frenzy is continuing to mount waiting for president obama to come out. the race pretty much played out just like the polls said it would. the popular vote was split right down the middle and it came down to what everyone thought, ohio, florida and virginia with in fact, ohio being the state that put obama over the 270 electoral votes and gave him a second term as president. >> and florida and virginia too close to call. they haven't been called

tonight. let's bring in cory cook tonight. obviously this race is determined now. what could the romney campaign have done differently tonight? >> that's a great question. i think we will probably spend the next few months trying to figure out if this is a winnable race for the republicans. you know the big moments in the campaign to both points gave the 47% comment. became a very popular video for the president, hurricane sandy through the -- the end of the campaign. this is the campaign we knew it would be two years ago. an incumbent president that was popular but was split 50/50. that's what the results was. he was able to outmobilize florida and virginia and ohio. these states that made sure

people got out to vote. despite the enthusiasm is what i think carried obama through. this is largely based on the fundamentals. the spending didn't really move very much. >> despite the fact that it was so close, what do you think that will mean for obama's second term. >> he wins as president bush said in 2004 he had some political capital now and he can spend it. but this is a very narrow victory. so i think the question becomes do the republicans in congress having potentially increased their margins in the house but lost some senate seats do they come now and say let's negotiate the grand bargains that we could have negotiated four years ago. let's deal with the debt problems, let's deal with these big issues that are coming the start of this calendar year. or does this become a rescue. the republicans say we won some, the democrats say we won some and we have a stalemate

for four years or a recipe for collaboration and agreement. >> do you believe there was one defining issue in this race. a lot of people said it came down to the economy. but it looks like voters came out and said we want to give the president another chance to keep him in office for more years. >> the key was that he finally got above 50% in how the president is doing as president. getting above 50% is getting the polls up and down through most of the summer and early fall. ultimately we'll go back to this is an election about president obama, about do you think things will be improving into the policies he has currently. a very closely divided election but one that i think certainly will be -- negotiate again with the republicans in congress. >> one of the things that strikes me is i see these pictures here from inside the convention center in chicago it's really a cross section of

the people that voted for president obama. it's the young voters, the black voters, the white voters. while the republican party tends to be almost all white and a lot of older voters. do you think this mean that is the republican party needs to extend their base. >> i think they do. this is the last campaign that republicans were able to vote. the demography of the country is changing out. every four years, the electoral is becoming more diverse. it grows to the asian american population and in particular the latino population. 70% of latino voters voted for president obama that is a huge number. when president bush ran for reelection he was getting 40% of vote. to only get 25% of the vote for a republican is something they have to turn around four years from now. they can't win with an

electorate. >> we heard that president obama his limousine has pulled up in front of the chicago convention. he's going to make his way to the podium and address this crowd which is very enthusiastic waiting for his speech. cory what do you think the president to say other than obviously one of big celebration but what does he have to say tonight? >> i assume he's going to strike some remarks. i think this is his opportunity to reframe what the next four years is going to look like. the election was very narrow and small. this is his chance to be big again. we saw in 2008, the victory speech in 2008 is among the best speeches in american history. this election was fought around very hyper targeted very negative tv ads. this is the president's chance to say let's get beyond the negativity and let's get to to

work on washington. >> don't they always say that. i'm going to reach across the aisle and i'm going to pull everyone together. then it doesn't happen. >> is he going to go out tonight and celebrate a victory and say we won. or that they're not going to repeal obama care, we're not going to revisit some of these issue that is the republicans have raised or is it an opportunity to say, you know, it's a close race. tough race and it's time to get to work on some of these big compromises that can be negotiated. i think this speech four years ago is one that we showed on campus students were weeping openly. i don't think we're going to see that tonight. i don't think change has come to america. but i hope we'll see is, you know we now need to repair this breech of what the current eight to 10 months of hyper devisive election. democrats are going to pick up some seats in the senate and a

very narrow presidential election between republicans and democrats. >> we should be a few moments now from the president taking the stage. you see the crowd of people waving the american flag. smiles and celebration. this was going into tonight a very tight race. a lot of people saying dead heat. they didn't know which way it was going to go. >> the fact that it was so divided literally right down the middle when you look at the popular vote. almost 50/50. what does that say about our country? >> if you look at the exit polls what it shows is you have two different ways of looking at america. not only differences on policy questions but differences on how the economy is doing. the polls reveal some real stark differences between democrats and republicans even how things are going in this country. the result of that i think it

creates this opportunity for president obama who first emerged on the scene in 2004 with a profound speech of the democratic convention saying it's not red states or blue states it's the united states. and the last two years of the republicans in congress fighting president obama tooth and nail in every issue saying their primary goal in office is to you know -- >> make sure he wouldn't be reelected. >> that's all gone now. this becomes an opportunity for democrats and republicans to agree. the senate is not likely to change two years from now base on what the seats are going to be. you now have the most vulnerable republican incumbents. or does this become an opportunity for these parties to negotiate. >> do you see the parties coming together. do you see some work getting done? >> you know the optimist in me says sure. the pessimist in me says it was

mitt romney and this was flip- flopping and being too soft on these issues. if we had a true believer conservative that won the election. already tonight we see some saying, the problem was not the message the problem was the messeneger. that is not going to get things fixed. >> it's all hindsight. >> it's all hindsight. the biggest was let obama define him in particular with bane that made him very difficult for him to erase obama's lead in places like ohio and iowa and other places. i think wisconsin it was never really in play, pennsylvania was never really in play but you can imagine where it had had that sort of early summer

not occurred. had romney had to to make up the likable gap this would have been a much different outcome. >> you would have thought based on how much trouble we had with the economy, mitt romney being the businessman that he is would want him to come in because he can fix the economy. does this election tell you that people obviously are willing to give president obama a chance to finish what he started and that there is some optimism that our economy is on the rebound on the move and moving forward. >> i think so, i mean exit polls show some of that. polls will narrowly moving in the right direction, moving in the wrong direction. i think obama's approval rating are starting to go in the right direction. i do think he had some room whether it's the second stimulus or other job plans. that said i think concerns about debt, concerns about entitlement report that we know that governor romney scored very highly on. i think there is a grounds here for a grand bargain to be

negotiated between the republicans in congress and the democratic president. just remains to be seen whether this political. this starts tonight and the narrative in the campaign and election. decisions about why it turned out the way it did and things like what governor romney and president obama said in their speeches tonight. >> yeah they're really drawing it out here. i mean again we said a couple of minutes ago that his limousine has now pulled up. we thought he was going to come out several minutes ago. but obviously it's taking him a little longer than we thought. but this crowd is cheering and cheering. >> let's sneak a way for a couple of moments. we want to go to david stevenson. he's in the city right now at a watch party. david let's check in with you. what can you tell us? >> well julie, this san francisco democratic party celebration began just after 8:00. take a look you can see there's still hundreds of people still here and it is going on past governor mitt romney's concession speech and a lot of

people are here waiting for president obama's acceptance speech. take a look at this video we shot earlier the excitement here began as the electoral votes began to pile up for the president. and as the scope of this became clear, it's shared by the san francisco mayor and democratic party. you can see people celebrating at this hour right now. we've actually seen people driving through the streets at the edge of the castro district, waving flags, honking horns. a lot of people in the sidewalks celebrating as well. people sticking around now waiting to hear president obama's acceptance speech. it has been a good night for the san francisco democratic party. and they are waiting to cap the night out with hearing from the newly reelected president. julie, frank back to you. >> that's right david. we have been waiting now about 25 minutes it's been about 20

minutes or so since mitt romney came out there and gave his concession speech. it was a very somber mood at the boston convention center. and mitt romney giving his very gracious concession speech tonight. it was a speech he obviously didn't want to give. it was a speech many said he didn't even write today. he had only written an acceptance speech. that's how strong he felt. he competent he felt going into tonight thinking it would be a very different outcome. we are now waiting president obama. we heard that his limousine has pulled up here. where supporters 10,000 plus are waiting for him to come out and give them that speech that they have been so long waiting for tonight. so we are waiting here for president obama. >> yeah i want to bring in cory cook once again our political expert from usf. if you're a republican what are you thinking tonight? is it back to the drawing

board. >> i think it's safe to say this. they're going to point to the house. the house republicans were very unpopular coming into this election. it's interesting a lot of folks thought that the senate might switch and the democrats have a chance of taking up the senate because the senate was unpopular with democratic control. i think what we're looking at tonight two seats, make three, four seats picked up by democrats in the senate. pretty remarkable results including they have the north dakota senate race which was something that wasn't even on the radar. house republicans also unpopular. the thought was democrats might actually have a chance to pick up the house. they're likely to lose seats in the house. we're going to go home tonight and be a lot of surprises and we were left with is voters that were deeply -- and voting for more of the same. deepening the gaps. >> we want to check in with debora villalon she is live in

berkeley with people there. what is the mood there? doesn't look like there's a lot of people behind you. >> reporter: a lot of people. these people are not going any where. these students are waiting for president obama to make his speech. of course right now they're cheering because they see themselves on ktvu channel 2. but a lot of excitement here, college students feel responsible for electing the president the first time four years ago. and many of them new voters who voted for the first time today feel a hand in the result tonight. very proud, very happy they feel this president best represents their views with regard to student debt, with regard to immigration policy, he is obviously a very popular president on this left leaning uc berkeley campus. so this has been the mood all evening, time resembling a barack obama rally with four more years the chant. if you look up on to the

balcony there's also people watching on the big screen tv up on the balcony. again probably 1,000 students here, students and some faculty mixed in. no signs of anybody heading back to the dorms any time soon. >> that is just remarkable. i'm thinking back when i was in college we didn't do anything like this. what was it like there when they announced that ohio had gone to obama and that president obama had topped the 270 electoral mark? >> well it was a huge eruption of cheers in this crowd. there were tears, hugs, students seemed shocked. i think they expected it to drag on longer through the evening. they expected it to be more of a nail biter. and so the fact that the results came when it did and was decisive was just a thrill for many of them. and again, these freshman who are maybe 18 years old have never voted before. and their first vote that their cast is for a president that

they're very passionate about. so you can see it's a very exciting mood here tonight at cal. >> and debra what time did they start gathering? have they been there all evening watching the returns come in. >> all afternoon they had a get out the vote campaign here at the plaza reminding people to get to their dorms after class and vote while they had time. there were polling places at several of the dorms. the get out the vote drive was all day. the big screen tv went up at about 5:00 and that's when they went to the national coverage. and they've been watching the returns and watching the projections. watching the results for the last several hours. they had popcorn out here for free, sodas and snacks for the students which made it a party like atmosphere. the refreshments created a happy mood. of course the election result took that over the top. >> that is really something.

can i bring cory back in for just a second. cory is this what you would call the obama effect. getting all of these young voters. i don't remember anything like that when i was younger or when i was in college. we just didn't do that. >> right and i think again the exit polls are saying about a 20 point gap in the lead, we have to get into the younger voters. the romney issues were raised around immigration and student debt and things like that. less enthusiasm than there was four years ago from that student population. still obviously enormously excited about president obama being reelected. >> a lot of people out there. >> the margins were a point or two in either direction. >> as far as voter turn out across the country, wasn't it higher than what it was expected was it around 60% and typically it's some where around 50%? >> i haven't seen the final numbers yet. but the reports we saw from

states was a bit higher than we would anticipate. 2008 had become the pinnacle in terms of what recent presidential elections. a lot of people thought we would fall back to 2000 level. it hasn't assuming what we had heard from the state. it will take a while to get a full count of the turn out. but these reports across the country say the turn out was higher than people anticipated. >> there were long lines in many polling places. they stretched around buildings in some places. >> people stuck it out which is really remarkable. i think one of the under statements is the ability of the obama campaign despite this enthusiasm gap to turn out the vote. the polls turned out to be right. one of the things republicans said you can't trust the polls, you can't trust that obama is doing well in the swing states. they're coming up in ohio with eight or nine point difference. what we saw from the exit points there was an eight to 9% difference from republicans and

democrats. ryan seems to have won independents, the democratic turn out was simply as high as high as predicted. >> talk about social media. the turn out on social media has been going crazy all evening. eric eric rasmussen has been following the social media. >> you have to consider that twitter says there's been more than 20 million election related tweets and that's just today. at the height of it around the time that the major networks were calling this election for president obama. twitter was reporting some where in the neighborhood of 370,000 tweets a minute related to the election. and although we are eagerly awaiting some words from president obama, i'm going to look away here on twitter the first lady michelle obama not too long ago has tweeted that this is just a huge moment for them, i'm trying to find the exact wording that she used

here. but michelle obama has come out and thanked supporters for everything they've done for her during this campaign and again as you see some of the images of folks in chicago waiting for the president to come out, many people getting on twitter and on facebook to express their opinions about how this election is playing out. as we see some of it although the commentary come in tonight. a lot of celebration, a lot of people are saying they are happy they got the chance to express their opinion. there's the other side, some folks not so happy about it. other folks just happy with the way the process works. others we've even seen some comments about the electoral college. wanting to revisit how the united states handles the elections. some of those issues playing out on social media. just an incredible outpouring of commentary on social media like we've never seen before. you have to consider the fact

that twitter launched back in 2006. there was some of that going on in 2008. but it is just risen to this fever pitch that we've been seeing even during the first debate there were about 10 million tweets about that and this of course has totally eclipsed it. twitter says this is the biggest it's ever been. >> certainly the first time in american history that social media such as facebook and twitter has played such a major role in a major election. >> really remarkable that it didn't crash at all. eric did it ever go down. did the websites ever go down at all. >> reporter: i'm looking at it right now and seems like it's up and going. it's hard to know what you want unless you set up some lists in advance because you're looking at a lot of information coming at you at a very quick pace. >> we want to go to amber lee, she's with a gathering of democrats tonight. amber can you hear me? >> reporter: i can julie.

we have some very excited democrats with me. here's-- i just heard this loud screech when it was announced. >> people here extremely happy. he's been a great president. we need his leadership for another four years and i believe he's got the answers to the economy to creating more jobs and he's going to help our students learn and get an education so they can go on an compete in the global economy. >> reporter: did it come as a surprise that it came so is early. >> it did to me. i thought it would be stretched out much longer. a lot of the reports were that romney was gaining ground. that he was going to take states that were borderline but it evaporated. i think at the end of the day people believed the president. he did very well in his last two debates and i think he convinced the american public that he is a leader, he has a plan and he is going to fight with his heart and soul to make it a better america for all the

families in the country. >> reporter: last night i was at the phone banks at the contra costa county headquarters for obama, i saw how organized they are. you think the ground strategy of hitting in the precincts, walking the precincts, going to people face to face in the battleground state. how much of a difference to you think that makes? >> that's american democracy. that's the strength of the democratic party frankly and the coalition you see here tonight of teachers and firefighters and public safety officials and classified employees and building trades. it was face to face, it was talking to people on the phone, it was knocking on the door. it was saying i'm an american, i'm a californians and we need a leader for our country. with more jobs, with better education, with better health care. i believe that that personal push at the end these last seven days have been critical in turning the tide for the president. >> reporter: thank you for your time. superintendent. we're here at prop 30 this is the party for raising the sales

tax and the personal income tax for money to stop cuts to public education. it's been trailing for most of the evening but this crowd is very enthusiastic given president obama's victory. >> that prop 30 race is a close one. we're going to have a lot of local results. we've been waiting for president obama. we've been waiting for president obama for 30 minutes. we know he's in the house but hasn't come in yet. let's bring in cook again. we were talking about the storm. the superstorm back east. and the impact that that might have had. it certainly i would assume helped president obama at least by giving him a chance to be on the front page of every newspaper. of every tv newscast helping out with the storm victims. >> i think so, i think the national polls were showing

some momentum in president obama's favor before that. i think it did close the argument of why he should have four more years. -- >> i think to interrupt you. we see president obama coming out on the stage. let's go to ken pritchett who's there in chicago. ken. >> reporter: as you can imagine this crowd is going really, really crazy as they're seeing the president walk out here with michelle obama and their daughters. they have been waiting obviously all night for this moment to see the president take center stage. reelected tonight, they were waiting and waiting for that concession speech for governor romney, they got that. now they're getting what they really were here for and that is to see president obama up on stage here tonight delivering a victory speech which many people here that we talked to were confident would happen. especially after seeing that polling data over the last week.

>> ken is there obviously with michelle obama, first lady and two daughters it's got to be quite a moment for the first lady and those two daughters after waiting all night for this moment. >> well, it's difficult to imagine what kind of moment it is for them. they you can hear the emotion in the president when he was in iowa last night. talking about the first term, back to when he started this campaign for the 2008 election. returning there last night. one of his last if not his last campaign events. and here he is about to speak. getting the applause of this crowd, waving the flag. he's getting ready to address the people here, virtually all the people in this room were staff and volunteers. many of them especially down on

the floor. that's how they got here. thank you, thank you. thank you so much.

tonight more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. it moves forward because of you. it moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of dispair to the great heights of hope. the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people.

tonight in this election, you the american people reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. i want to thank every american who participated in this election. whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time.

by the way we have to fix that. whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone. whether you held an obama sign or a romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference. i just spoke with governor romney and i congratulated him and paul ryan on a hard fought campaign. we may have battled fiercely but it's only because we love this country deeply. and we care so strongly about its future. from george to lenore to their son mitt, the romney family has chosen to give back to america through public service and that

is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. in the weeks ahead i also look forward to sitting down with governor romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward. i want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, america's happy warrior the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, joe biden. and i wouldn't be the man i am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years

ago. let me say this publicly, michelle i have never loved you more, i have never been prouder to watch the rest of america fall in love with you too as our nation's first lady. sasha and malia, before our very eyes you're growing up to become two strong smart beautiful young women. just like your mom. and i'm so proud of you guys but i will say that for now one dog is probably enough. to the best campaign team and

volunteers in the history of politics. the best. the best ever. some of you were new this time around and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. but all of you are family, no matter what you do or where you go from here. you will carry the memory of the history we made together. and you will have the lifelong appreciate of a grateful president. thank you for believing all the way, to every hill, to every valley.

you lifted me up the whole way and i will always be grateful for everything that you've done and all the incredible work that you put in. i know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. and that provides plenty of of foder for the cynics. but if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at rallies and crowed along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late at a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you will discover something else. you will hear the determination

in the voice of a young field organizer who's working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. you will hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift. you will hear the deep patriotism of a military who is making sure that nobody who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home. that's why we do this.

that's what politics can be. that's why elections matter, it's not small it's big. it's important, democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. we have our own opinions, each of us has deeply held beliefs. and when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country. it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. that won't change after tonight, and it shouldn't. these arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. and we can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter. the chance to cast their

ballots like we did today. but despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for america's future. we want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers. a country that lives up to its legacy as a global leader in technology and discovery and invasion with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow. we want our children to live in a country that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't threatened by the disruptive power of a warming planet.

we want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world. a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this world has ever known. but also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war to shape a piece that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being. we believe in a generous america, in a compassionate america, in a tolerant america. opened to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. to the young boy on the south side of chicago who sees the light beyond the nearest street

corner. to the furniture worker's child in north carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president, that's the future we hope for. that's the vision we share. that's where we need to go. forward. that's where we need to go. now we will disagree, sometimes fiercely about how to get there. as it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. it's not always a smooth path. by itself a recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end all the gridlock or

solve all our problems or substitute for the long work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. but that common bond is where we need to begin. our economy is recovering, a decade of war is ending. a long campaign is now over. and whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you. i have learned from you. and you've made me a better president. and with your stories, and your struggles, i return to the white house more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.

tonight, you voted for action not politics as usual. you elected us to focus on your jobs not ours. and in the coming weeks and months, i am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. reducing our deficit, reforming our tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil, we've got more work to do. but that doesn't mean your work is done, the role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. america has never been about what can be done for us it's

about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. that's the principle we were founded on. this country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. we have the most powerful military in history but that's not what makes us strong. our university, our culture, are all the envy of the world but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores. what makes america exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. the belief that our destiny is shared. that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and the future generations with the freedom that so many americans

have fought for and die for come with responsibilities as well as rights and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. that's what makes america great. i am hopeful tonight because i have seen the spirit of work in america. i've seen it in the family business who's owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors. and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose their job. i've seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb. and in those fields who charged up the stairs in the darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back.

i see it on the shores of new jersey and new york where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. and i saw it just the other day, in metter, ohio where a father told the story of his 8- year-old daughter who's long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything. had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care. i had an opportunity to not

just talk to the father but meet this incredible daughter of his. and when he spoke to the crowd, listening to that father's story. every parent in that room had tears in their eyes. because we knew that little girl could be our own. and i know that every american wants her future to be just as bright. that's who we are. that's the country i'm so proud to lead as your president. and tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of washington, i've never been more hopeful our future.

i have never been more hopeful about america. and i ask you to sustain that hope. i'm not talking about optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path, i'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or short from a fight, i have always believed that hope is that is stubborn thing inside of us that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. america i believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity, and new security for the middle class.

i believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard. it doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from. or what you look like, or where you love, it doesn't matter whether you're white or black or hispanic or asian or native american or young or old, or rich or poor, abled, disabled, great or straight you can make it here in america if you're willing to try. i believe we can see this future together because we're not as divided as the politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundents believe. we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states, we are and forever will be the united states of

america. and together with your help and god's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. thank you america. god bless you united states.